Europe Days

The EU, the Delegation of the European Commission (EC) and the European cultural institutes will kick off cultural activities in Hanoi on April 29 and in HCMC on May 12 to feature cultural diversity of the 27 member states of the EU.

The cultural events in Hanoi comprise exhibitions, a prize award ceremony for children’s drawing competition on gender equality on May 7, a concert on May 8, silent film concerts on May 9 and 10, the EU-Vietnam children’s football cup on May 17, and a European film festival from May 16 to 22.

Also in Hanoi, the European fashion gala at the National Museum of Fine Arts on May 21 will highlight four European and Vietnamese designers’ collections that they made on the inspiration of Vietnamese culture and values.

Meanwhile, the European food festival in the National Library of Vietnam on May 24 will be for families to try and taste authentic foods and drinks of the continent. Activities for children and live entertainment by music bands and dance troupes will add spices to the third event of its kind in Hanoi.

Down south in HCMC, there will be a roundtable discussion about reading habit on May 13. Like in Hanoi, movie lovers will be treated the silent film concert at the Conservatory of Music on May 12, and 10 films on show during the European film festival from May 22 to 30.

As the "Europe Days" go beyond cultural activities, the event will also include a seminar on EU-Vietnam trade relations in HCMC on May 14 and Hanoi on May 28, Antonio Berenguer, EU and EC trade counsellor in Vietnam, told reporters in HCMC on Wednesday.

Berenguer said the seminars would help local companies enhance their capacity to penetrate the EU as well as overcome challenges to make the most of the market.

Berenguer told the Daily after the news briefing that the EU-Vietnam trade relations had been much improved and their two-way trade had quadrupled in the past 10 years to reach 10bil euro, in favor of Vietnam.

He said EU considered Vietnam as an important trade partner in the ASEAN region. This is one of the reasons why trade seminars are also added to the "Europe Days" agenda.

The "Europe Days" celebration always held a particular significance for the EU member states, said Herve Bolot, ambassador of France to Vietnam, in his capacity of local EU President on behalf of Slovenia.

Sean Doyle, ambassador and head of the Delegation of the EC to Vietnam, said in the statement that the "Europe Days" program reflected the broad EU-Vietnam relationship and built bridges between the peoples of Vietnam and the EU.

Berenguer said the "Europe Days" event last year attracted 20,000 participants, including 6,000 in HCMC.

(Source: SGT/VNN)